Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[owenstreet7]

Good analysis of the plans here. Interesting points that haven't been mentioned:

- Investment is £20m
- New Sensory Space
- New toilets
- Rollercoaster has a bag drop station
- Station has multiple levels
- OnRide photos
- Internal queue line with views of track
- Track unconfirmed but looks relatively short considering space with 25% being outdoors suggesting reliance on internal FX/show scenes.
- New Flat/Immersive ride has a viewing area


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZPv5ybIrJU

I'm thinking with those Multi Dimension Coasters that there may be something clever involved where different elements and turntables will be involved and some of the track is travelled possibly more than once similar to other Intamin coasters such as Uncharted, Movie Park Studio Tour and Gold Rush.

The building size does seem to be very similar to Uncharted so it may be comparable to that

 

[AT86]

Yeah Horizon went quiet for a while. TPWW said it's happening still just looks like Thorpe and Chessington have taken a ton of money I hope they don't forget us at Towers we need stuff too

Chessington had nothing new this year and it looks like nothing new is coming next year either.

Thorpe also don’t look to be getting anything next year.

In that time Towers have had a major investment in the re-track of Nemesis and a new flat ride is coming next year - plus the investment into getting Hex and the Skyride back up - and project Horizon still to come.

Towers is still getting investment - it’s just swings and roundabouts in terms of the timings.

 

[benpicko]

Good analysis of the plans here. Interesting points that haven't been mentioned:

- Investment is £20m
- New Sensory Space
- New toilets
- Rollercoaster has a bag drop station
- Station has multiple levels
- OnRide photos
- Internal queue line with views of track
- Track unconfirmed but looks relatively short considering space with 25% being outdoors suggesting reliance on internal FX/show scenes.
- New Flat/Immersive ride has a viewing area


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZPv5ybIrJU

Can't watch, but £20m on the entire area or just the coaster? Seems incredibly low if it's the entire area

 

[Bowser]

Can't watch, but £20m on the entire area or just the coaster? Seems incredibly low if it's the entire area

He says entire area. Surprised me too. For perspective Jumanji was said to cost £17m…

 

[Benzin]

Rethemes are always cheaper. Jumanji was literally built on a sloped field so needed a decent amount of groundwork and assorted infrastructure for buildings.

Not so much here.

 

[owenstreet7]

Chessington had nothing new this year and it looks like nothing new is coming next year either.

Thorpe also don’t look to be getting anything next year.

In that time Towers have had a major investment in the re-track of Nemesis and a new flat ride is coming next year - plus the investment into getting Hex and the Skyride back up - and project Horizon still to come.

Towers is still getting investment - it’s just swings and roundabouts in terms of the timings.

I heard Project Play (Mexicana) is being fast tracked and will be developed and open before Project Refresh and Renew.

It is possible this could be a Summer 2025 opening however a Spring 2026 opening is plausible too. I'd wait until that planning application comes out to find out more.

Shipwreck Coast's planning got put in early 2022. I remember it may have been after the season started that they've got permission to do it.

Thorpe Park is getting a stage next year on the Beach site. It's removing Slammer in preparation for something in the long term, I'm assuming a planning application will come at a later date and it could be the 2026 addition (I'm presuming it's a flat ride).

There is always the chance Monkey Swinger could be moving there.

Can't watch, but £20m on the entire area or just the coaster? Seems incredibly low if it's the entire area

For a coaster, an immersive flat ride, a playground, a rethemed Kobra, theming and the associated buildings, I'd say that's pretty decent although I'm worried if that includes theming as it could be typical Merlin. The bulk of this will go on the coaster and flat ride.

 

[Islander]

For a coaster, an immersive flat ride, a playground, a rethemed Kobra, theming and the associated buildings, I'd say that's pretty decent although I'm worried if that includes theming as it could be typical Merlin. The bulk of this will go on the coaster and flat ride.

Of course it’ll include the theming

 

[Bowser]

In the end it will also depend how protective MineCraft are of the IP.

With Nintendo you knew they wouldn't settle for anything less than perfection and were heavily involved with every aspect.

 

[owenstreet7]

In the end it will also depend how protective MineCraft are of the IP.

With Nintendo you knew they wouldn't settle for anything less than perfection and were heavily involved with every aspect.

I'd imagine Microsoft/Mojang would be very protective of the Minecraft IP.

I'd imagine they'd be pushing Merlin to make this absolutely perfect.

My biggest worry is that Merlin will do it on the cheap and take shortcuts.

 

[Bowser]

I'd imagine Microsoft/Mojang would be very protective of the Minecraft IP.

I'd imagine they'd be pushing Merlin to make this absolutely perfect.

My biggest worry is that Merlin will do it on the cheap and take shortcuts.

It's a bit odd that he cited £20m (i don't know where from as haven't seen the proposal) whereas the Merlin announcement was i believe £85m across two projects, especially when we (perhaps wrongly) assumed this was the larger one.

I also have no idea how the budgets given relate to planning proposals... my experience of domestic building projects is whatever the estimate given it's wise to double it so could simply be a general placeholder figure.

 

[BooMT]

It's a bit odd that he cited £20m (i don't know where from as haven't seen the proposal) whereas the Merlin announcement was i believe £85m across two projects, especially when we (perhaps wrongly) assumed this was the larger one.

I also have no idea how the budgets given relate to planning proposals... my experience of domestic building projects is whatever the estimate given it's wise to double it so could simply be a general placeholder figure.

I was also wondering about the 20m in relation to the 85m and where this figure came from! That would leave quite a large budget for the sister location! Does anyone know their source?

Can't watch, but £20m on the entire area or just the coaster? Seems incredibly low if it's the entire area

I'm sure Paultons Tornado Springs cost about 12m? There's no custom hardware but they built the majority of the area from the ground up, brought in Storm Chaser, Cyclonator, 2x Zierer towers, reskinned the tractors & buffalo falls, added auto academy, plus the restaurants, retail outlets and playgrounds (Farmyard Flyer came later and unsure if the Rio Grande improvements were part of the quoted cost). On top of all that, it's really well themed! But... Paultons are not Merlin. However, it does show what a deceptively 'small' budget can achieve - especially if there's some upcycling going on!

 

[Alsty]

Don't worry, I'm sure Chessington have made sure their new coaster has a maximum throughout of 600pph.

 

[owenstreet7]

Don't worry, I'm sure Chessington have made sure their new coaster has a maximum throughout of 600pph.

So they can sell loads of FastTrack, I mean Reserve and Ride or whatever it's called now

I do wonder what influences their decisions to buy coasters in terms of capacity

 

[Jb85]

Exciting developments but can’t help but think this was originally Horizon and would have sorted out the mess that is WW

 

[Bowser]

Exciting developments but can’t help but think this was originally Horizon and would have sorted out the mess that is WW

In theory Horizon should be opening before this so we’ll find out one way or another next year!

 

[Jb85]

In theory Horizon should be opening before this so we’ll find out one way or another next year!

Well that’s very true
Didn’t Shawn indicate that it’s still going ahead?

 

[Squiggs]

benpicko said:
Can't watch, but £20m on the entire area or just the coaster? Seems incredibly low if it's the entire area

For a coaster, an immersive flat ride, a playground, a rethemed Kobra, theming and the associated buildings, I'd say that's pretty decent although I'm worried if that includes theming as it could be typical Merlin. The bulk of this will go on the coaster and flat ride.

If it's any help, according to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, £20m would not even buy you the equivalent of Air in 2002.

It's not a perfect comparison point, but at this point £20m is not a decent budget for a new coaster in the UK, let alone a full land.

This is pretty much what happened with Jumanji - an entire land was costed at the price that they should have paid for the headline rollercoaster.

 

[Bowser]

Well that’s very true
Didn’t Shawn indicate that it’s still going ahead?

There was a vague mention and he said there would be an imminent update...

 

[Ash]

Exciting developments but can’t help but think this was originally Horizon and would have sorted out the mess that is WW

This this and this again

I can’t help but think now this would have made a solid addition to towers (as much as I’d prefer original IP) It would fill a much needed gap, revitalise a quiet part of the park and you think they’d be able to re-use the entire area, dare I say it, if they went to retheme dungeons, GG, 4D cinema and burger kitchen they could create a superb experience. They’d already have buildings for retail.

I just wonder with the recent studios north developments if there may be more than meets the eye there.

And you look at what they would have done with the lodges as well it all looked impressive. And due to the IP you get the impression it has to be a high quality attraction.

I also wondered if the “indoor immersive flat ride” may also have been meant for FV? Still great to see two indoor attractions!

I also think they’d have gotten a much bigger return on investment as it would make a larger splash at Alton.

And they’d have the rest of WW to go at in terms of redevelopment that is roughly similar space.

Considering Merlin’s chronic underinvestment in Chessington for years. This seems like on extreme to the other, and for arguably the largest IP they’ve worked with outside LEGO to show up at their 4th most popular UK theme park just screams strange.

An odd decision all round for me. I will be intrigued to see how PH develops, if at all in the future. And why the UKs most number one theme park still feels like it’s slipping backwards. I suspect the multi dimension was always going to follow the Minecraft IP and perhaps PH will eventually be something like the dual circuit intamin like Darkoaster.

Still fingers crossed for the return of Talbot St…

 

[Squiggs]

Actually, I'm aware that Air is possibly a bad comparison point due to the complexity of the trains.

To be clear, according to the Bank of England inflation calculator £20m today would not buy you a Nemesis in 1994, an Oblivion in 1998, an Air in 2002, a Thirteen in 2010, a Smiler in 2013 or a Wicker Man in 2018.

It is simply not enough for a major new rollercoaster investment in 2024, let alone a new land with multiple attractions.